The recent buzz in the sports world revolves around Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen’s victory at the World Women’s Boxing Championships 2022 held in Istanbul. The competition concluded with Zareen winning a World title, making her the fifth Indian woman to achieve this feat. Her win was marked by a 5-0 defeat against Thai Olympian Jutamas Jitpong in the 52 kg category. Complementing her gold, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda also received bronze medals in the 57kg and 63kg categories respectively.
A Look Back at India’s Past Achievements
Before Zareen’s accomplishment, it was Mary Kom who had last brought home a World title in 2018 from Delhi, marking her sixth championship win. With these recent wins, India’s total medal count in the World championships has now reached 39. This impressive tally includes 10 gold, eight silver, and 21 bronze medals earned over the course of twelve editions of the championship. As a result, India now ranks third after Russia (60 medals) and China (50 medals) in terms of total medals won.
India’s glorious past in women’s boxing also includes other World champions such as M.C. Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, R.L. Jenny, and K.C. Lekha – all remarkable athletes who have made the nation proud on various occasions.
An Insight into the World Boxing Championships
The World Boxing Championships are prestigious amateur boxing competitions that are organized under the administration of the International Boxing Association (IBA). As the global governing body for boxing, IBA’s mission is to support, promote, and govern the sport worldwide, abiding by the principles and pursuits outlined in the Olympic Charter.
Understanding the ICC World Test Championship from UPSC Civil Services Examination Perspective
As a part of the previous year’s UPSC Civil Services Examination, two questions about the ICC World Test Championship were presented to the candidates. They were asked to consider whether the finalists were determined by the number of matches they won and whether New Zealand was ranked higher than England due to more match wins.
The reality is that the 2021-2023 ICC World Test Championship, which is the second edition of this competition, started on 4 August 2021 and will conclude on 31 March 2023. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had announced in 2020 that the finalists would be chosen based on the percentage of points they earned rather than the number of match wins. This revamped points system aimed to maintain uniformity in the points available per Test and allowed team performance comparisons at any point in time.
Finally, it is noteworthy that New Zealand was the first team to qualify for the inaugural final. Its higher ranking than England resulted from its ratings or points (126 after 22 matches), whereas England accumulated a rating of 107 after participating in 35 matches.